A Case of You
by Mad-like
Summary: This is an excerpt from a longer story, a long rambling story that I can't finish.  Well, this story involves an unfortunate incident with Sebastian that starts in a ski lodge in the French Alps cause yeah, Blaine's that rich.
1. Chapter 1

**This is an excerpt from a long rambling story that I can't seem to finish. So, I realized there's a Kurt/Blaine story with a beginning, middle and end buried in the middle of a Sam/Mercedes story. Here it is.**

* * *

><p>"Well, fancy meeting you here." Sebastian Smythe kicked Blaine Anderson's ski-pant clad leg to one side and sat down beside him on the loveseat facing the fireplace in the ski lodge. He handed Blaine a drink. "Drink this" he said, handing him a glass of milky liquid. "It'll warm you up." He sat back and drained his glass. "That's what I love about Europe, no minimum drinking age."<p>

Blaine tasted the alcohol. Liquorice? "What is this?"

"Absinthe. Makes the heart grow fonder." he laughed at that ancient joke. "Hard to get back home. Montreal, that's where I go to get it. Legal drinking age is 18 up there. I'll take you sometime."

"Kurt too?"

"You dog!" he laughed again, his grey eyes reflecting the firelight. "I would have never guessed you for a 3 way. No, he'd just slow us down." He leaned closer to Blaine and whispered conspiratorially. "One man at a time. That's my motto and Kurt's not the man to make me change my mind. No offense."

"None taken. You don't like Kurt?" Blaine was starting to feel the glow of the alcohol.

"What little I know about Kurt I don't like. Sounds fickle, here one day and gone the next. Funny, normally I don't mind that in a guy." He tossed back the drink. "Skipped out on the Warblers to go to Nationals with his old friends. I saw their performance. Hah! Talk about embarrassing. And he left you for that." he sighed thoughtfully, as if he'd never really given Kurt much thought. "And the way he dresses? That must have taken some getting used to. God only knows what he's doing right now." He added with a sideways glance to Blaine.

"I'm not worried. I trust him." Blaine finished his drink.

"Yeah, a guy that looks like that you probably don't have to worry about somebody hitting on." Sebastian waved his hand and two more drinks magically appeared. "How long will you be here?"

"Til Thursday. The rest of my family is still on the slopes. We come here every Christmas. For that and..." A warning light flashed deep in Blaine's brain.

"And what?" Sebastian pressed.

"My birthday." He said ignoring the warning light. "Yesterday was my birthday."

"It was?" Sebastian sounded very pleased to hear that. "I'll have to come up with something extra special to do do for you." He smiled, a dangerously seductive smile. "To celebrate your birthday." Sebastian looked down at his empty glass and suddenly grabbed Blaine's arm and pulled him to his feet. "Let's go!"

"Go where?"

"Don't panic," Sebastian said with a smooth laugh. "you're not being kidnapped. We're just going to the bar to see the whole ceremony. You don't just pour absinthe in a glass and slide it across the bar. There's specific water fountains and special spoons to go with this."

* * *

><p>Two more drinks and suddenly they're in Sebastian's room, standing on a freezing cold balcony. "We have to do this outside" he explained, "because there's a slight risk of explosion and even I can't get get away with blowing up a hotel. At least not an expensive hotel." Blaine watched as the older boy dipped the sugar cube in absinthe, put it on a spoon over the absinthe and water mixture, and lit it.<p>

"Ohhhh" Blaine said, giggling like he was seeing fireworks.

Sebastian laughed and put his arm around Blaine. "Give it a minute, we've got to let the flame go out." He leaned over and kissed Blaine, a test kiss to see how he'd respond. The next 10 seconds are critical, Sebastian knew from previous experience, and he wasn't totally disappointed. Not the response he was hoping for but not a complete NO either. He decided Blaine's had enough to drink, time to move this party indoors.

With Blaine, there's a thin line between drunk and passed out, a line Sebastian crossed before he knew it. One minute Blaine's sitting on the edge of the bed and Sebastian is showering him with kisses. He's not responding much but he's not running for the door either. Sebastian unbuttoned the younger boy's shirt and gently brushed his nipples with his tongue. Blaine giggled, a good sign. The next time Sebastian looked up, Blaine was sound asleep.

Sebastian looked at him while he tried to decide on his next move. Getting a guy drunk in order to get laid was one thing, raping a guy was a whole other thing – a thing to which Sebastian Symthe didn't have to stoop. And was Anderson even worth all this effort? It had been easy, too easy, to find out he'd be here. Back at Dalton they loved to talk about the fabulous Blaine Anderson. Ditching his family, also easily done. As long as he's asking for money they never say no. It's love and affection that's rationed in the Smythe household.

He was standing by the window, watching the sun set on the French Alps, when Blaine's phone rang. Sebastian picked the phone up from the floor. Kurt! A plan formed in his mind.

"Hey Kurt! What's up?" He said cheerfully.

"Who is this?" the soft, high voice came back.

"Sebastian. Remember me? From Dalton?"

Twenty seconds of silence. "Where's Blaine?"

"Sleeping. I guess he's worn out. Sorry, all my fault. Want me to wake him up?"

"I don't believe you." he said after hesitating for a few minutes.

"I can send you a picture if you want. Hold on for a second." he hung up and took a picture of a sleeping shirtless Blaine. He composed the picture carefully so that it appeared that Blaine was completely nude - if Kurt was the insecure type which Sebastian guessed he was. He hit send and called Kurt back.

"Got it?"

"Yes. Can you deliver a message to Blaine? Tell him to go to hell!"

"Got it! Anything else I can do for you?" he asked with a smirk in his voice.

"Yes, you can go to hell too!" Kurt hung up.

* * *

><p>Kurt sat on Mercedes' sofa, ruining Mercedes and Sam's plans for the afternoon. Her folks were in Columbus visiting her brother, they had the whole house to themselves, and who came knocking on the front door but Kurt. Kurt, who hadn't been her friend for most of last year, and now it seems to Sam that she can't get rid of him. That's the trouble with dating such a sweet girl, Sam thought. Her maternal instincts kicked in the moment she saw Kurt's red-rimmed eyes and now she's force feeding him hot chocolate.<p>

Losing Blaine ain't losing much, in Sam's opinion, but he decided to keep that opinion to himself. Sam had to admit that was a hell of a way to find out about Blaine's cheating on him and this Sebastian sounds like he could give Shane asshole lessons, which is a feat in itself.

There's no point in sending her 'get rid of him' signals, not where Kurt is concerned, so Sam gave up. "Are you hungry? I'm making lunch. Unless you have somewhere else you need to go?" he added hopefully.

"Thank you. The rest of my family, and Rachel, went to Toledo."

"So you've got all day?" Sam asked, trying to hide his disappointment. He only had two hours before he had to be at work.

Mercedes, who was currently rocking Kurt like a baby, shot Sam a dirty look. "Kurt, I need to talk to Sam for a minute. I'll be right back." She kissed the top of his head.

She walked over to Sam with her 'gonna give you a piece of my mind look', which dissolved the minute he reached down and brushed her hair back behind her ear. She looked up at him and laughed, a laugh Kurt had never heard before. Then they started kissing like Kurt wasn't there.

"Shit!" Mercedes turned and stared at him, Kurt's not one for profanity. "You guys probably had plans and here I am, blubbering all over the place. I'm going. You two have fun." He laughed ruefully.

"Going where?" she asked, alarmed.

"Don't worry, I'm not headed for the nearest bridge. I'm going to talk to Santana."

"Santana?" they both said in shock.

"We're kind of a McKinley gay support group. When Finn outed her a couple of other gay kids, kids I never even knew about, reached out to her. There's about a dozen of us and we get together sometimes. I found out Santana can be nice when she's not being defensive. Plus Britt's out of town for the holidays and I've talked to her a couple of times so I know she's around."

"Cool! Bye." Sam said opening the front door before Kurt got a chance to change his mind. The last thing Kurt heard was Mercedes laughing her new laugh.

* * *

><p>Kurt sat in a far corner of McKenna's, waiting for Santana. Santana likes this place and Kurt figured he could get to like it too. It's near the college so high school kids don't hang out here much, at least not the straight ones. Bill McKenna, the owner, prides himself on his tolerance. He'd have to, his wife is black and his son is gay. Ben McKenna, and his boyfriend Tim, are two of the gay kids he met though Santana. Sometimes Ben and his sister Alice, a TroubleTone dancer who is apparently straight, open the coffeehouse on Saturday nights for gay-friendly teen mixers. Not all of the kids that come are gay but none of them have a problem with it. He was going to need help to move on from Blaine.<p>

The chatter in the room died down for a second and Kurt knew Santana was there. She always gets that reaction when she walks in a room. How does she do that?

"Hey, babe!" she said leaning over to plant a kiss on his cheek. She was wearing a long black leather coat over a short red dress and red boots. Her thick black hair was pulled back with a blood red headband. Stunning, the girl was stunning, and half the coffeehouse noticed. "What's up?"

He slid a cup of coffee to her. "Well, to tell the most predictable story in the world, Blaine's cheating on me with someone who's sexy, rich and has a magnetic personality."

"Male or female?"

"Male of course! Blaine's gay."

"Blaine always struck me as..." she backed up seeing Kurt's expression. "Okay, he's gay. I just thought if it's a girl there's not much you can do to compete, is there? Do you know for sure or is it just a bad feeling you have?"

Kurt showed her two pictures Sebastian had sent. One of the shirtless Blaine, the other of the two of them laying in bed. Santana studied the pictures.

"Wow, that looks really bad." She handed the phone back to him. "Did you talk to Blaine yet?"

"No. I haven't heard from him. Looking at the pictures he's going to be asleep for a while."

"And you know the guy?"

"Sebastian. Sebastian Smythe from Dalton. He's been chasing Blaine for a while. Looks like he caught him."

She moved her chair closer to his and put one arm around him. "Do you want Blaine back?"

"He cheated on me!"

"Yeah, but do you want him back?"

"How could I want him back? How could I ever trust him again?"

"Do you at least want to know why he did it?"

"Because he's a slut?" He looked at his coffee cup. "I don't give a damn WHY he did it."

"Sure you do, you'd be out looking for a replacement if you didn't. Let me tell you something about cheating, I'm somewhat of an expert. It's almost never about the person you're cheating with, they're just a penis you're using. It's always about you and the person you're cheating on. It's because you're hurting, hurting in a way you can't put in words and you feel like you can't talk to the person you love. Maybe you think you can't trust them to understand you, at least that's my issue. Who knows what his issue is. But, the new person is just a diversion. If you can't express it to the new person then two weeks from now there'll be another new person." She looked at Kurt to make sure he understood what she had just said. "Maybe you guys should see somebody."

"See somebody?" he said slowly.

"I see somebody." She handed Kurt a business card. "I used to be so angry, and so scared. That day with Finn, I was crazy that day, out of control crazy. It's no wonder he went off. And then, the worst thing that could possibly happen to me happened and you know what?"

"What?"

"I survived. I got help and I survived. You should go at least couple of times, with or without Blaine. Maybe he's a douche-bag. If so, you can't let that affect the whole rest of your life, thinking a douche-bag is the best you can hope for." She lifted his chin to make sure he was looking into her eyes. "You know what the first guy I fell in love with taught me?"

He shook his head.

"He taught me I was only good for one thing. It took years for me to wipe that out. I almost lost Britt cause I couldn't stop replaying that, over and over again. No matter what, don't start believing shit like that about yourself. You're so too good for the likes of Blaine Anderson." She laughed. "And Sebastian's not all that sexy if he can't even keep a man awake."


	2. Chapter 2

Blaine was awakened by something hard pressing into his arm. He feigned sleep while he tried to think of where he might be. It was warm, overheated almost, what with the weight of the blankets he could feel and the crackle of the fireplace he could hear. Other than the lack of a shirt he seemed to be dressed in what he'd been wearing yesterday. That's good. He opened his eyes. The hard object was Sebastian's knee, he was sitting cross-legged on the bed, reading a book. That was good, kind of. He was also totally naked. That was bad, very, very bad.

"Good morning!" Sebastian leaned over for a kiss.

Blaine rolled away and jumped off the bed. Sebastian shrugged and turned back to his book.

"Where's my stuff?"

"Where ever you dropped it." he said without looking up. "There's food over there if you're hungry. For food. If you're hungry for something else..."

"No, thank you." Blaine said, buttoning his shirt and reaching for the doorknob.

"Fine by me. By the way, three things. Thing one, can I borrow this book?" He held up the Blaine's copy of Frankenstein, the book he'd been reading by the fireplace yesterday. "I should have read it last year instead of paying somebody to write the report. I thought the monster was all monosyllabic grunts, like the movie. It's fascinating."

"That's why they call it a classic. Keep it, I can get another."

"I'll treasure it always. Maybe you'll sign it for me, something more interesting than Property of McKinley High School." He smirked at Blaine. "Thing two, Kurt called. He sounded angry. Probably something I said."

Blaine took a deep breath. This was not unexpected news. "Third thing?"

"Huh?" Sebastian asked, looking up from the book as if he's forgotten Blaine was still there.

"You said you had three things to say."

"Oh, yes. Happy Birthday!"

Blaine slammed the door behind him.

* * *

><p>"You look..." Santana cast through her mind, carefully selecting the word that best described Mercedes right now. Radiant, glowing, ecstatic, "satisfied." was the word she settled on.<p>

Alice looked between the young blond boy behind the counter and her friend opposite her. "Isn't he kind of young?"

"He's eighteen, same as you." Mercedes answered.

"Sorry, I like college guys. Technique." Alice winked at Santana.

"Sam was trained by a master." Santana boasted. "And he's young enough to be trained. College guys! How a guy could get so many bad habits in such a short period of time." she shook her head in disgust. "But catch 'em when they're young?"

Sam was well-trained, Mercedes could attest to that. But on the other hand "That's my boyfriend you're talking about, not some puppy you found in a parking lot." A blushing Mercedes redirected the conversation. "Besides we're here to cheer up Kurt."

"No, I'm here delivering an order." Alice said, placing the fruit salad Santana ordered on the table. "Gotta get back to work."

"Hands off my man!" Mercedes said with a laugh, her new deep and sexy laugh Kurt noticed she used whenever the topic was Sam Evans. "Don't even think about what Santana just put in your head."

"There's so many strays hanging around this place, I don't have to steal the ones that are taken." she said, eyeing a guy sitting alone at the counter.

"Feeling better today?" Mercedes asked.

"Yes. Sorry for barging in on you yesterday but I was in shock. Should have seen it coming, a guy like Blaine couldn't really be interested in me."

"You mean a guy dumb enough to cheat on a prize like you?" Mercedes asked.

Kurt's phone vibrated. He glanced at the photo id. Blaine. He turned the phone off.

"Not speaking to him?"

"I want to say it in person. Breaking up over the phone seems tacky."

"And you're sure you're breaking up?"

"Unless his story involves a drugged abduction I'm breaking up with him. Sebastian of all people! The only way this would be worse is if it was Rachel."

"Why would Rachel be worse?" Santana asked.

"One, she's a girl. Two, then they'd both be cheating on me."

"How well do you know Blaine?"

"Evidently not at all."

"Suppose the drug in question is alcohol?" Mercedes said. "I mean, you complained about how he gets when he drinks. And you said Sebastian's a heavy drinker. Maybe Blaine's got a drinking problem."

* * *

><p>Blaine was sitting in his hotel room, half a world away, staring at a half-empty bottle of wine and wondering the same thing. All the wine in the world's not going to solve his problem. He put down his glass and walked into town, headed for the stationery shop he'd passed on his way to the wine store earlier. Writing in a journal had helped enough to get him out of that treatment center years ago, maybe it would help now.<p>

When he got back he was shocked to find Sebastian in his room, sitting at the desk by the window, writing a letter on hotel stationery.

"How did you get in here?" he asked, stopping near the still-open door.

"Like I do everything. I paid somebody." Sebastian answered, folding the letter he was writing and putting it in an envelope.

"Well, what do you want?"

"Three things."

Blaine sighed. "You're still playing that game?"

"Thing one," he ignored Blaine's statement "thank you for the book. It changed my life."

"Too bad I didn't get it to you earlier."

"Thing two – this is for Kurt." He held up an envelope. "You can read it, you probably should because it describes our little..." he paused "encounter, in excruciating detail. You probably don't remember much of it. I want him to know that I initiated everything, it wasn't your fault what happened, which wasn't much as it turns out."

"Thing three." Sebastian continued. "I want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry for crashing through you life like Prometheus here." He waved the copy of Frankenstein. "Just because I'm..." he paused again "unhappy, is no reason to destroy any glimmer of happiness I stumble across just to prove I can." He stood up and looked down at the book. "It's funny, he was mad at Victor, for creating him and abandoning him, and Victor was totally clueless." He looked at Blaine. "Goodbye Blaine, I need to go home and talk to my parents. I'm truly sorry for what I did to you."

* * *

><p>"Is Kurt home?" Blaine asked, standing on the front porch of the HummelHudson household several days later.

"Nope." Finn looked at his nails. He stood in the doorway, making no effort to let Blaine in.

"Do you expect him home soon?"

"Nope." He leaned against the door frame.

"Do you know where he is?"

"Maybe." He smiled vaguely.

"Who is it, baby?" a female voice called from the other room.

"Blaine." Finn yelled back to the living room.

Rachel materialized at his side. "Come in!" she said, her voice and manner on the sympathetic side of neutral, as opposed to Finn who was definitely on the hostile side. Finn disappeared deeper into the house and left the two of them alone in the living room.

"How is he?" Blaine asked, turning over the envelope in his coat pocket.

"I was out town when he found out. We all were, so he went to Mercedes. By the time I got back he'd calmed down. A lot." Rachel seemed concerned about how calm Kurt was. "I don't know, he's in the "I'm young, I'll get over it." phase, which I guess is good."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Yes, I'll take you there."

* * *

><p>Kurt was at McKenna's, which appeared to be a hippie coffee house, one of five kids squeezed around a table for four. Kurt, Mercedes and Santana he expected. Santana was sitting on Mercedes' lap, which was unexpected and the other two people at the table were total wild cards. Dave Karofsky and an unknown black guy with Dave's same stocky build. The black guy and Dave were sharing an order of fries in a very couple-like manner. All five of them were laughing, especially Dave and his date, those two in a very new-couple kind of way. None of them noticed Blaine and Rachel walking in.<p>

"Kurt!" Rachel said as she reached the table. "How are you?"

"I'll live." he said standing up and hugging her. Over her shoulder he saw Blaine standing near the door. Everyone at the table turned and looked. "I wish you had warned me."

"You're going to see him at school tomorrow. This is a better place, don't you think? You feel safe here."

"You know me too well." he said with another hug. "Give me a few minutes." He walked towards Blaine, who hadn't moved from the doorway.

Rachel sat in Kurt's vacated seat. "Rachel, Rachel Berry." she said thrusting her hand at Dave's date when the others neglected their host duties in favor or staring at Kurt and Blaine.

"Steve. Steve Jackson. From Dave's new school."

"And you and Dave hang out here?"

"Sometimes." Dave answered. "It's nice here, comfortable."

They were still watching Kurt and Blaine standing near the door. Blaine took one step forward, Kurt took one step backwards.

"Ouch!" Mercedes said. "Between that and your boney butt I don't know what's more painful."

"People like my ass just fine!" Santana said.

"Well, what else are they gonna say when they're trying to get a piece of it?" Mercedes said jokingly.

"What'll you have?" Alice asked Rachel. Rachel stared at the waitress, trying to figure out how she knew her.

"It would be obvious if I were holding a guitar. Band, TroubleTone?" she said with a laugh. "Now, I have to say the curried chicken salad is great. Tim's finally found the right recipe. And Sam's cream-sickle frozen yogurt? Awesome. It's new, not a lot of demand for cold desserts this time of year but come summer? Anyway, it's healthy, yogurt instead of ice cream. Good for your New Years resolutions and all that. So what'll you have?"

"Get the frozen yogurt." Mercedes recommended. "Sam's been testing it on me all week." Santana giggled lustfully. "Can you get your mind out of the gutter for 10 minutes?" Mercedes asked, bouncing the Latina on her lap.

"I'll bring you a sample." Alice said before she walked away.

Kurt came back, dropped an envelope on the table and picked up his coat. "We're just going for a walk around the block. Back soon." Of course nobody heard him, they all stared at the envelope, wanting to touch it but afraid to at the same time.

"I guess it would be terribly rude..." Rachel started.

"Unfortunately." Mercedes said. "What did Blaine have to say for himself?"

"Not much. He's not much of a talker, really. He didn't deny anything, just said it wasn't as bad as it looked."

Steve and Dave reached for the last fry at the same time. Then they laughed at each other. "Damn, look at the time!" Dave said standing up.

"Yeah, we've got...stuff..to do before it gets late." Steve said, also standing up.

"Stuff, huh?" Santana asked, before being tossed from Mercedes' lap.

"Yeah, stuff!" Dave said, grinning at Santana. "Tell Kurt to call me if he needs somebody beat up. And tell Blaine not to worry, Kurt's the forgiving type. Look at what I did and he forgave me."


	3. Chapter 3

"Magandang gabi." Tim said. It was a guess, the nationality of the Asian woman at the counter, but she looked like his cousin so he took a shot. The dark-haired woman smiled and responded.

"Magandang gabi. Kmusta ka?"

"Mabuti naman. Ako si Tim."

"Ako si Esperanza." she held out her hand.

"Well, Esperanza," he said shaking her hand, "that's about all the Tagalog I remember. Hello, how are you, fine thank you. It doesn't come in much use here in Ohio."

"You're good. Drop you in Manila and you'd do just fine."

"Sometimes my dad wishes he could drop me off in Manila. Then I'd be heaping shame and disgrace on somebody else's family. Anyway, what will you have today? Coffee, tea, latte, hot chocolate, smoothie?"

"Coffee, thank you. And can I ask you a question? I'm looking for Kurt Hummel. I was told he comes here sometimes."

Tim frowned. Why was this gorgeous Filipino woman, Tim guessed her somewhere between 25 and 30, looking for a gay high-school boy? "Why? Not being rude, okay maybe it is rude, but he's a friend and..."

"Oh," she smiled again. "It's nothing like that. I need to talk to him, about Blaine."

* * *

><p>"Hi, I'm Esperanza. Esperanza Santos?" she added at Kurt's blank expression. "Okay." she said sitting down opposite him, "that name obviously means nothing to you. How about Hope Anderson? Still nothing? So Blaine never mentioned he has a sister, or more accurately a half-sister." Kurt nodded. "Well, he does and that would be me."<p>

"Blaine's not one for talking." Kurt said, adding this piece of information to his list of things Blaine never bothered to mention. "He mentioned his younger brothers, Spencer and Sterling. They're half-brothers, correct?"

"Correct. Blaine's mother is my mother. His father is their father. He lives with them. Our mother lives in Toledo."

"May I ask where you live?"

"I live in Philadelphia. I'm in town to visit Blaine." She spun her coffee cup in her hands. "He wants to move. To Philadelphia. Not that I wouldn't love to have him but...I think he's being impulsive."

"And you think I should take him back?"

"Not necessarily. He screwed up, big time. And the fact that you've never heard of me makes me think there's other things you haven't heard, things you should know before you make up you mind about him. Things he needs to let go of if he wants to make room for you in his life."

"Things like what?"

"Oh no," she said shaking her head "he'll have to tell you himself. If he can't, or won't, that makes your decision much easier."

* * *

><p>"I met your sister." Kurt said, leaning against the row of lockers.<p>

"You did?" Blaine said, opening his locker.

"Yes, She said you're thinking of going to Philadelphia. Why? Why not back to Dalton?"

"Besides the obvious reason, my dad, or I should say my stepmother, has gotten used to not paying tuition. I can't afford to go back to Dalton, not that I'd want to go there anyway for the most obvious of reasons."

"Because Sebastian's there?"

"That would be correct."

"He acted perfectly normal at Regionals. He even congratulated us without any snark."

"Who knows how long that's going to last? I'm not going back." he shut his locker. "I just don't want to be here, around you, anymore. I mean, this whole being friends thing is fine in theory but every time I see you it reminds me what a idiot I am." He opened his locker, remembered he didn't need anything in it, and shut it again. "You don't trust me, you'll never trust me again. I understand why you feel that way. It's hopeless."

"I'd like to trust you again." He touched Blaine's arm lightly. "She said there's things I need to know, before I make any decisions."

"Did she say what they were?"

"No, she said that was up to you."

Blaine closed his eyes, as if he were making a big decision. "We're going to Toledo this weekend, Hope and I. Do you want to come, meet my mother?"

"I thought your sister's name was Esperanza."

"It is, in Spanish. It's Hope in English."

"Oh. When do you need to know? If I'm coming with you or not?"

"By Friday's okay. There's a guest room you can stay in. We'll be back by noon Sunday."

* * *

><p><em>I remember that time you told me you said<em>  
><em>"Love is touching souls"<em>  
><em>Surely you touched mine<em>  
><em>'Cause part of you pours out of me<em>  
><em>In these lines from time to time<em>  
><em>Oh, you're in my blood like holy wine<em>  
><em>You taste so bitter and so sweet<em>

_Oh I could drink a case of you darling_  
><em>And I would still be on my feet<em>  
><em>I would still be on my feet<em>

_I met a woman_  
><em>She had a mouth like yours<em>  
><em>She knew your life<em>  
><em>She knew your devils and your deeds<em>  
><em>And she said<em>  
><em>"Go to him, stay with him if you can<em>  
><em>But be prepared to bleed"<em>

_Oh but you are in my blood_  
><em>You're my holy wine<em>  
><em>You're so bitter, bitter and so sweet<em>

_Oh, I could drink a case of you darling_  
><em>Still I'd be on my feet<em>  
><em>I would still be on my feet<em>

Blaine watched Kurt singing in the choir room, his voice sweet and pure. Like that day he sang _Blackbird_, the day he realized he loved Kurt. He wasn't trying to sound like Joni Mitchell, he was being Kurt, sweet beautiful trusting Kurt. Kurt who deserved better. Mercedes and Rachel were both learning forward, examining Kurt's performance for clues to his state of mind. They are so dissimilar Blaine thought, like ying and yang, but together they seem to be helping him to heal. They both jumped up, applauding when he finished. They both said the song was competition ready. They both scowled at Blaine as he walked to the front of the room

_Lonely is the room, the bed is made, the open window lets the rain in_  
><em> Burning in the corner is the only one who dreams he had you with him <em>  
><em> My body turns and yearns for a sleep that will never come<em>

_ It's never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon his shoulder_  
><em> It's never over, all my riches for his smiles when I slept so soft against him<em>  
><em> It's never over, all my blood for the sweetness of his laughter<em>  
><em> It's never over, he's the tear that hangs inside my soul forever<em>

_ Well maybe I'm just too young _  
><em> To keep good love from going wrong <em>

_ Oh... lover, you should've come over_  
><em> 'Cause it's not too late.<em>

"That's deep." Sam whispered in her ear.

"What? Who didn't know Blaine could sing?" Mercedes answered, trying to push away any sympathetic feeling she was starting to feel towards Blaine.

"Yeah, but who knew he felt things? He seems nice enough, but kinda cold, you know?"

"That from the guy that sang about a man who can't decide between staying home with his girlfriend and going fishing."

"That's a really sad song." Sam said with a smile. "And that's ironic comment coming from the girl who sang about a drug dealer."

"Well, I bet he was sad when the cops kicked down the door. I told Schuester I can't get into all this "Week of Heartache". I'm just not feeling it."

"I guess it's all my fault you're not feeling the angst. Speaking of which, there's not a decent fishing hole within 100 miles of here."

"And I care, why?" she asked with a half-smile.

"Oh, you know you care! And you know why."

She suppressed a laugh. "Let's see if we can come up with something to make up for the shocking lack of fishing holes in western Ohio."

* * *

><p>"It can't hurt to go." Rachel said, flipping through outfits for her date tonight with Finn. "You always wanted to meet his family." She held up a cotton candy pink dress. Kurt shook his head. "His sister will be there if he tries anything." She held up a robin's egg blue dress. He shook his head. "You said she was nice, the sister?"<p>

"Yes, Esperanza is nice. Also totally different from Blaine. She dresses very..bohemian I guess you'd call it. Blaine grew up with money in America, and she grew up poor in the Philippines. Blaine's dad was in Manila for business. Their mom worked at the hotel, head of the housekeeping staff, and she was also raising Esperanza alone. Esperanza's dad died a couple of years before. They fell in love, got married and moved here. She was ten when Blaine was born. Ten, fifteen years later they got divorced and the mom moved to Toledo, where there's an uncle and some other family. Anyway the stepmother he's mentioned before and that's how they're different. Esperanza told me all of that over a cup of coffee. Blaine – not a word. Like it was some deep dark shameful secret." She held up a navy blue dress. He nodded. "I don't know why you buy pastels. Where are you going?"

"Art gallery reception down at the college. Double date with Sam and Mercedes, wanna come?"

"Strange place for a double date."

"Well, Mercedes really likes art. That's why Sam likes it and also because it's free. Finn's trying to make up to Sam for that stripper foolishness. Why don't you come too? We're just going to the reception together. After that Sam's got to go to work, at that coffee house you like. I'm not sure what Mercedes is doing later."

"Let me check with Mercedes to see if she's busy later. If it's okay with her, sure, I like art."

* * *

><p>Esperanza studied the canvas in front of her. The Muses. Four girls, sitting at a table in what looked like that coffee house she visited last week. She stepped back to get the effect of the overall composition. She stepped forward to look at the brushwork.<p>

"What do you think?" asked Tim from the coffeehouse.

"Hello, Tim. Is this that same coffeehouse?"

"Yes, it's McKenna's." He studied the painting too.

"I really like the skin tones of the girls. Sometimes black people are hard to paint, but this is a good job." The four muses were a fair-skinned blond, an olive-toned Latina or possibly Native American, and honey-colored bi-racial girl and an African-American girl. They were sitting at a table, laughing like they'd been captured mid-joke. "I also like that they're not holding lyres and shit. That would be hokey." She pointed to the canvas hanging next to the one they were looking at. "And this one, same girl, totally different feel." It was a portrait of the bi-racial girl and a white boy, sitting on a bench, heads touching, smiling. Maybe a comedy/tragedy theme because the girl's smile had a touch of sadness to it, sadness missing entirely from the boy. "Much more ambiguous. It's hard to tell the relationship between them and between them and the artist, where it's obvious that they're friends in the other painting."

"Do you think these are good?" Tim asked frowning at the paintings.

"The artist needs a little more polish but the eye is there, that's the most important thing. For a college student, I'd guess third/fourth year, it's damned good."

"Are you an artist?"

"No" she said laughing. "Ask anybody who's seen my work. I'm a buyer for a chain of boutique hotels. Mostly abstracts and landscapes. I'm here visiting family and decided to drop in." she looked at the price tag on the Muse painting, $200. "This would go for twice that on the East Coast. I live in Philadelphia but New York, or better yet Washington? I'm buying one, not sure which one yet. This one, AB, seems too intimate, too personal to be hanging on a stranger's wall. Yes, I'm buying the Muses."

"Hello Tim, Hope." Blaine said walking up to them.

"Esperanza." she corrected him, rolling her r's just a bit.

"That's really nice, Tim." he said, missing the correction as he stared at the painting. "When did you have time to do this?"

"You painted these? And you let me ramble on. Suppose I said it was awful?"

"That would be good to know, if a professional art buyer thinks I'm an awful painter. Save me from wasting a lot of time."

"So how do you know my brother?" Esperanza asked.

"Blaine's your brother?" he looked closely at the two of them. He would have never guessed, but people never guess Alice and Ben are twins either. "School. I'm a senior at McKinley. I also take classes here."

"You're still in high school? Maybe I will buy both. You're going to be valuable one day."

"Hopefully while I'm still alive and get to spend the money."

"Tim, when did you finish?" Mercedes said hugging him from behind. "It must be still wet. Awesome! Can my dad buy it?"

"Too late, sold it." he said with a laugh. "Meet Blaine's sister, Esperanza. Santos, right?"

"Correct." she looked from the girl in front of her to the girl on the canvas. Tim had done an excellent job in capturing her.

"Mercedes, Mercy, was my inspiration. Only there's three Graces and I had four models I wanted to paint. Therefore, Muses instead of Graces. The lyres are on the coffee cups and the jewelry. " Esperanza noticed Mercedes in the painting was wearing a lyre necklace and her coffee cups had a musical staff on it. Actually there was more detail to the painting than she'd first noticed.

"Tell you what Mercedes. You dad can buy this one if Tim agrees to takes a commission. I'll send you a picture of one of our coffeehouses, I need that for the background. $600 and that's still a good price." She pulled a business card from her wallet and handed it to him. "Blaine can reach me anytime."

Blaine was staring across the room at Kurt, who was standing with Sam, looking a photograph. "Excuse me" he said heading towards Kurt.

* * *

><p>A Case of You – Joni Mitchell<p>

Lover You Should Have Come Over - Jeff Buckley


	4. Chapter 4

**Lima, Ohio**

Sam almost tripped over Kurt, sitting alone in the dark on the front steps at 6am in the morning.

"What are you doing?" he asked sitting down opposite him.

"Waiting for Blaine." he said softly. "We're going to Toledo."

"What's in Toledo?"

"His mother. I'm finally getting to meet his mother."

"That's good, isn't it?" Kurt didn't sound like it was good.

"It would have been good if it was his idea. His sister forced him to do this."

"Still, you're going to meet her. And you've met his sister. Isn't that what you wanted, to meet his family?"

"I don't know what I want." he said with a short laugh. "So why are you out so early, going to another job?"

"Aren't I always?"

"I guess so. Here's Blaine now." He stood up and started towards the car. "I'll be back on Sunday."

**Lima to Toledo, Ohio**

Kurt stared out the window at western Ohio. This must be the quietest car trip ever. Blaine and his sister are sitting in the front set, and Kurt is realizing just how softly they both speak. They're not whispering, they're just speaking softly about people Kurt never heard of. Oh, he could write a book full of Blaine's relatives he's never heard of. The only interesting thing to happen is Blaine keeps calling her Hope and she keeps correcting him, loudly. He wished he'd remembered to put his i-pod in his coat pocket instead of in the trunk.

"Can we please stop soon? I need to get something from the trunk."

**Toledo, Ohio**

Kurt flipped though the Santos/Anderson family album. Carmen, Blaine's mother, is an attractive woman today and she was positively gorgeous when she was younger. Curly black hair, sparkling brown eyes, obviously where Blaine got his looks. Actually, Esperanza was also very pretty, just the way she dresses distracts from her looks, at least in Kurt's opinion. Esperanza dresses like a person who doesn't care much about clothes, a concept Kurt has a hard time grasping.

Here's a picture of the mother and daughter at a funeral. Maybe for Esperanza's father? Kurt hates funerals so he turned the page. Here's a picture of a wedding so this must be Blaine's father. He was much thinner then. At least Kurt thinks that was Blaine's father that he met briefly after Sectionals last year. Not that Kurt was actually introduced to the man, the Warblers had a party at Blaine's house and his father answered the door.

He looked at more pictures, Blaine as a baby, then a toddler, then in middle school. He wore his hair longer then. Long and curly. Kurt's trying to decide which way he likes it better when suddenly his hair is slicked back and he's wearing a Dalton uniform. Kurt compared the last picture before Dalton to that one, trying to figure out how much time had passed. Blaine seemed taller and more muscular in the Dalton picture.

"Hey" Blaine said sitting on the floor near Kurt's feet. "What are you doing?"

"Looking at this photo album." He pointed to the pre-Dalton picture. "When was this taken?"

"Looks like late fall. That tree is in our backyard. This was before..." He hesitated. "We all lived in Columbus back then."

"What year?"

"I don't remember."

"What I'm asking is – how much time between this picture and the Dalton one?"

"A year? Maybe two."

"That's a big gap, I mean compared to all the other pictures." He waited for Blaine to clarify the gap. He knew, or he thought he knew, why Blaine went to Dalton, he just hadn't realized there was such a big time difference between the public and the private schools. Somehow he'd always thought the switch was immediate, like his had been.

"I suppose." Blaine stood up. "Do you want me to show you where the guest room is?"

"Yes, thank you." Kurt closed the photo album.

**Toledo to Lima**

"Do you want to stop? Get a cup of coffee or something?"

"Yes, thank you. We can switch if you want. Since we left Esperanza there's no reason why you have to drive the whole way."

Kurt was staring out the window of the Starbucks when Blaine returned from the bathroom.

"I ordered for you." he said sliding the cup of coffee across the table.

"So you met my family," Blaine started. "Did it make any difference?"

"It just reinforced how little I really know about you. We've been together almost a year but I don't really know you."

"What does that mean?"

"You seemed more relaxed than I've ever seen you. Unguarded. Then I wondered why you're so guarded around me. Why you don't trust me."

"You think I don't trust you?"

"There's a whole year of your life missing, the year after you left public school and before you went to Dalton. Whatever happened that year, you don't trust me with. It's okay, you don't have to. I'm just trying to explain why...why...why we're breaking up."

"Okay. Fine." Blaine stood up with his coffee. "Are you ready to leave?"

**Lima, Ohio**

Blaine was just sitting there, sitting there and singing. That's the main thing everyone noticed about his performance in the choir room that day. Normally he dances while he sings, and this song could use some dancing, what with it's soaring eagles and rambling rivers. But no, he's just sitting there with a guitar and singing.

_So don't ask where I'm going  
>Just listen when I'm gone<br>Far away you'll hear me singing  
>Softly to the dawn<em>

_Rivers belong where they can ramble_  
><em>Eagles belong where they can fly<em>  
><em>I've got to be where my spirit can run free<em>  
><em>Gotta find my corner<em>  
><em>Of the sky<em>

* * *

><p>"Principle Figgins, I've noticed that Blaine Anderson's been out of school for a week. Is something wrong?" Kurt asked.<p>

"Have you tried calling him?" Figgins asked the pale, thin boy standing in front of his desk.

"Yes, I can't reach him."

"Well, we have strict rules about confidentiality." he said, leaning back in his chair.

"I know, but he mentioned transferring and I wondered if he had his records sent somewhere."

"No, his records are still here, there's been no request for a transfer."

"So he's still in Lima?"

"Yes, he's doing independent home study the rest of the year but technically he's still a student here." And that's a shame Figgins thought, Blaine's one of the few students that hasn't caused any trouble. What a nice school this would be if he could put most of the kids on home study. Figgins smiled thinking about that.

"Thank you." Kurt said, leaving the office.

* * *

><p>Kurt sat in his car, watching Blaine's house, feeling like a stalker. He wasn't even sure Blaine was home, his car was there but he could be out with his family. Kurt was about to give in to the feeling of being ridiculous and go home when Blaine came out and headed down the street.<p>

"Blaine!" he called, getting out of the car. Blaine stopped but didn't turn around. He waited until Kurt caught up and started walking again.

"How are you?"

"Okay."

"We missed you, at school."

"Okay." he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"Okay."

"Are you going to say something other than okay?"

"What do you want me to say?" he asked, stopping so suddenly that Kurt almost ran into him.

"Ummm..."

"Sorry for snapping at you. I guess I'm not used to being around people these days. Sorry."

"Isn't you family home?"

"Yes, they're around, but they've been avoiding me, until this all, ahhh, blows over, as they say."

"And your mom and sister?"

"Esperanza went home and I can't show up in Toledo when I'm supposed to be in school down here, can I? Let's go back, I didn't realize it was so cold out. I'll make coffee."

Kurt looked around the kitchen. It was big, full of granite and stainless steel. The oven was large, you could feed an army from this kitchen. How many people lived here? Blaine, his two brothers, his father and stepmother. Kurt wondered if they had a lot of big parties, the kitchen was definitely set up for that. He watched Blaine make coffee.

"You want some dinner?" Blaine opened a huge refrigerator. "Everybody else is at a recital, they won't be home for hours. They left food. I think it's lasagna."

The two boys ate in the kitchen, sitting at the island in the middle of the room. "So it's decided. I'm going to Philadelphia for senior year. Esperanza set all kinds of conditions." He frowned, so many conditions. "One of them is finishing the school year here. So I'm leaving in June."

"And you're not going to Nationals with us?"

"No." He separated the onions from the rest of the salad in front of him. "You'll be fine without me."

"Blaine, please come back."

"Why?"

"I've been thinking about us." Kurt pushed around the lasagna on his plate. "Rachel thinks secrets in a relationship are bad. She thinks they just pile up and explode in the middle of an argument, making everything worse. Mercedes thinks things that happened the past are private. Maybe it might explain why a person responds in a particular way but it's the past and can't be changed. She says it takes time to feel comfortable enough to share those kinds of things." He pushed the plate away. "I think whatever happened that year is private, not a secret. If that's important to you, to keep it to yourself, then I have to respect that. It wouldn't make a difference to me anyway. I'd still love you."

He stared at Kurt for several seconds before answering. "Like you said, you don't know me."

"I love the part I know. Even if you spent that year in jail I wouldn't love you less." Kurt said staring into Blaine's brown eyes.

"I wasn't in jail."

"That's good to know." Kurt said with a small smile.

Blaine stood up and turned on more lights in the kitchen. The room was now as bright as an operating room. "Let me show you something." He sat down opposite Kurt and pushed the sleeves on his sweater up to his elbows. He put both arms down on the counter top, palms up. "See that?"

"See what?"

"That." He traced a small scar on his left wrist. "That was a test. To see if it would hurt, what would happen. It wasn't what I expected, it just dripped. So this one," he pushed his right wrist closer to Kurt. "was deeper. Not spurting like in a horror movie but it definitely bled more. I didn't know what was supposed to come next, was it going to start hurting or would I pass out? So I sat on the bed, waiting for something to happen, and I realized that it would be a big mess for somebody to clean up, that's why people do this in the bathtub. I hadn't thought of that before. That's where I was headed, to the bathroom, when I unexpectedly ran into my mother. She'd gone to work but came back for something or other. That dance I told you about was in October, then I stayed home for a while. This..." he held up his hands "was in February. Then I was in a psychiatric hospital for a while. It was too late to start at Dalton by the time I got out."

Kurt reached over and took Blaine's hands in his. He lightly kissed the scars on the shorter boy's wrists. "Thank you for telling me that."

"And you're not worried? Worried that maybe I really am crazy?"

"No, I don't think you're crazy. I thought about it and I'm not crazy. I still love you."

"But you didn't do it, did you?"

"No I didn't. You know why I didn't do it? My dad. He buried my mom, I couldn't bear the thought of him burying me too. Just visualizing him finding my body." he shrugged. "That's the only reason I didn't do it."

"I love you, Kurt. Thank you for coming here, I don't think I would have been strong enough to do that."

"Do you love me enough to come with me to see somebody for couple's therapy? I've been seeing a counsellor, it was Santana's idea, and she'd like to meet you. She thinks we should talk about why we don't talk. Why we've never talked about how i felt about West Side Story and how you felt about leaving Dalton. We've talked around it but we've never talked about it."

"So we're a couple again?"

"I'm willing to work on it if you are."

* * *

><p>The end<p>

Corner of the Sky (from the play Pippin)


End file.
